The present invention relates to an advertising terminal and to a method of displaying advertisements. In particular, the invention relates to a self service terminal (SST), such as an automated teller machine (ATM), for displaying advertisements, and to a method of operation of such an SST. More specifically, the invention relates to an ATM for detecting portable devices having a wireless communication facility.
ATMs are public access terminals that provide users with a convenient source of cash and other financial transactions and services. An ATM is typically located in an area of high pedestrian traffic so that there is a large number of potential users of the ATM. This ensures that many ATM sites are ideal for advertising to passers by and to users of the ATM.
At present, advertising that is presented to a user may be customized to that individual, but advertising that is presented during the period between successive users of an ATM is typically a generic advertisement (that is, not targeted at a specific group of people) because the ATM cannot identify who is passing by the ATM. In general, an ATM owner or advertising coordinator is able to charge less for a generic advertisement than for an advertisement targeted at the people who view the advertisement. This means that an ATM owner would like to provide a high ratio of targeted advertisements to generic advertisements to maximize the income from advertising.
To enable targeting of advertising, demographic studies are sometimes performed by consultants to evaluate the demographic profile of those who live and work in the vicinity of an ATM; however, this is an expensive and time consuming exercise that has to be performed for each ATM site that is to be used for targeted advertising.